Stopper for bottles and similar containers



H. P. ROBERTS. STOPPER FOR BOTTLES AND SIMILAR CONTAINERS. APPLICATIONFILED rams, 1919.

'1 ,346 ,5 1 O, Patented July 13, 1920.

// 07 J [if /f gz J 11 INVEN uv- NTVS- by I PATENT OFFICE.

UNITED STATES HENRY P. ROBERTS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BYDIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO RODIK COMPANY, OF BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

STOPPER FOB BOTTLES AND SIMILAR CONTAINERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 13, 1920.

Application filed March 5, 1919. Serial No. 280,705.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY P. ROBERTS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Stoppers for Bottlesand Similar Containers, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to stoppers or closures for bottles and similarcontainers. The invention has for its object a stopper which can bereadily applied to and removed from the neck of a bottle or othercontainer. There are on the market excellent bottle stoppersparticularly of the Crown type which will efiectively close the neck ofa bottle, but such stoppers are injured when they are removed from thebottle and are incapable of further use. My 1nvention provides a bottlestopper which, while performing the work of closing the bottle aseffectively as the Crown stopper, may be used repeatedly without losingits effectiveness.

So far as the metal workis concerned, the stopper embodying my inventionmay be constructed entirely from stampings and therefore may beconstructed so cheaply that it can compete with solid corks.

In the accompanying drawings, I have sh vn my invention embodied in astopper for bottles of the kind ordinarily used to contain chargedwaters, but it will be understood that I do not limit myself to thiscmistruction or use, and that my invention may, by the exercise of meremechanical skill, be adapted to other uses, such for instance, asstoppers for milk and cream cans, marmalade jars, thermos bottles andthe like.

The invention will be fully understood from the following descriptionwhen taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novelfeatures thereof will be pointed out and clearly defined in the claimsat the close of this specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the upper end of abottle to which is applied a stopper embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the stopper shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4c is a section similar to Fig. 3 showing the position occupied bythe parts when the lever handle is lifted.

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of the clasp.

Fig. 6 is a view in perspective of the cap.

Fig. 7 is a view in perspective of the locking-lever.

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of a bottle stopper embodying my invention inmodified form.

Referring now to the drawings, at A is shown the upper end of a bottlesuch as is ordinarily used for charged waters. The bottle is ofwell-known construction and has a rim a (see Figs. 1, 3 and 4t) aroundthe edge of the neck. At 11 is shown a disk of some compressiblematerial such for instance as sheet cork, composition, or rubber. Abovethis, is placed a disk 12 of some rigid material, as for instance, sheetmetal which will serve to distribute over the upper surface of the diskof compressible material the pressure applied to the disk 12 by theother members of the bottle stopper. At 13 is shown a clasp having aplurality of prongs b the outer ends of which are turned inwardly asshown at 0 to engage the underside of the rim a. The clasp 13 isprovided with one or more upward projections d having holes c therein.

At 14 (see also Fig. 6) is shown a cap which extends down'over the clasp13. The cap is turned down to form a flange or depending edge g whichextends over the edge of the disk of compressible material to hold thesame in place. The cap is cut away at f, 7", so that it will fit downover the prongs 7) of the clasp, and the cap 1 1 is provided with holes2', 2' through which extend the projections (Z, (Z formed on the clasp.A locking-lever 15 (see Fig. 7) is pivoted to the clasp by means of earsh, h which enter the holes 6, e in the projections (Z, (Z. One end ofthe locking-lever 15 is formed into a handle 8, and the other end jforms a cam member which engages with the upper surface of the cap 14.The cam member j is longer than the vertical distance from the holes 6,e to the upper surface of the cap when the parts are in unlockedposition so that it will exert pressure on the cap, and

the lever will lockitself in position when the end of the cam memberpasses said vertical line. i

The device operates in the following manner:lt is assembled as shown inFig. 1, and in this condition and with the lever lifted as shown in Fig.a, is snapped on to the rim of the bottle. This is easily done becausethe prongs are somewhat flexible between the center of the clasp andtheir outer ends. When snapped on to the bottle, the ends of the prongsengage the undersurface of therim of the bottle at a. point just belowthe greatest diameter. The locking-la ver 15 is then pressed down to theposition shown in Fig. 3, thereby locking the parts in place. Thepressure exerted by the cam lever on the cap is distributed evenly overthe entire peripheral surface of the cork disk by means of the metaldislr 12. at the same time that the locking lever pushesdown the cap,its reaction on the, projection d of the clasp lifts upthe center of theclasp. As the center of the clasp is lifted, the upper surface of eachof the pii'ongs engages the edge of the rim of the cap at the point -70(see Figs. 3 and 4), and this acts as a fulcrum so that the outer endsof the prongs are forced inwardly under the lower surface of the rim ofthe bottle. This will be clearly seen by comparing Figs. 4 and 3. InFig.

i, it will be seen that the clasp is horizonta from the point 70 to apoint is, while in Fig. 3 the clasp is curved upward between these twopoints. It will also be seen in c Fig. 3that the point 0 of each prongZ) has been forced under the rim ofthe bottle farther than it has inFig. i.

In Fig. 8, thereis shown a stopper embodying my invention in a slightlymodified form. In this figure, the clasp 20 is made with twoprongsm andn, and the clasp is provided with upward projections 0 and 79 to whichis pivoted the locking-lever 21. at bottle stopper made as shown in Fig.8 is adapted for use wherea stopper is required to resist relativelyhigh pressures in charged waters because the clasp of this stopper maybe made of stiif rigid material since it not necessary to make ityielding to enable it to be snapped over the rim. This stopper is put inplace. on the bottle by being slid in the direction indicated by thearrow, that is, at right angles to the clasp 20.

What 1 claim is: 1

.1. The stopper for'nse with a container having a rim, a layer ofcompressible material,'a clasp having prongs engagingthe rim of thecontainer, a cap over said clasp, a

projecting member thereon which extends through the cap, and meansengaging said having a rim, a layer of compressible material, a clasphaving prongs to engage the rim of the container, a ca over said clasp,a projection thereon which extends through the cap-and a movable memberpivoted on said projecting member and engaging the cap to force the captoward the rim of the container- 3.,The stopper for use witha containerhaving a rim, a layer of compressible material, a clasp having prongsengaging the under edge of the rim of the container, a cap over saidclasp, 'a projecting member for the clasp extending upward through thecap, and a cam lever pivoted on said projection and acting on the saidcap to force it toward therim of the container.

4. A'stopper comprising a layer of co1n-- pressible material, a clasphaving a plurality of prongs to engage the under surface. of the rim ofa bottle, a cap resting on the compressible. material between the saidprongs, and means acting on the said cap to spring the clasp awayfrom'the bottle, thereby forcing the prongs inwardly under the rim ofthe bottle and compressing the disk of compressible material;

5. A. stopper comprising a layer of compressible material, clasp havinga plurality of prongs to engage the under side of the rim of the bottle,a cap the edge of which contacts with the upper surface of said iprongs, andmeans acting on the said. clasp and tending to move thecenter of the clasp about its points of engagement with the cap asfulcrums and thereby force the outer ends of the said prongs inwardlytoward the neck of; the bottle; 1

6. A bottle closure comprising a cap, .a

clasp on the under side of the cap having laterally'extending arms whichterminate in inwardly turned hooks, projections on the clasp whichextend upwardly through the top of the cap, andarlever connected therewith whereby said. clasp may be drawn up tightly within the cap andcausing the said arms to be slightly bent over the rim of the cap as afulcrum thereby drawing the ends of the hooks inwardly into closerrelation with each other, and a layer of resilient material on the underside of the clasp.

I In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

HENRY P; ROBERTS.

